With all the requests for tips from people you never even thought to tip beforehand, tip fatigue continues to grow. How should you handle this?
In the cruise ship world, automatic tipping has been part of the culture for a long time. Most people have been annoyed with this tipping policy but accepted it as part of the cost of cruising. At least until now.
A friend pointed out that these tips are not automatic but applied to your account unless you opt out. The way it service gratuities work, at least on Royal Caribbean is
Guests who choose not to prepay gratuities at the time of booking will have a service gratuity automatically applied to their respective SeaPass® account on a daily basis, in the amounts shown below:
- $21.00 per guest, per day will be applied to guests sailing on any suite; and
- $18.50 per guest, per day will be applied to guests sailing on all other stateroom categories.
Gratuities collected are distributed to crew members, including dining, bar and culinary services staff, stateroom attendants, hotel services teams as well as others onboard who work to enhance the overall cruise experience.
Additionally, an 18% gratuity will be automatically added to all pre-cruise and onboard purchases of beverages and beverage packages, specialty dining and specialty dining packages, room service and mini bar purchases. A 20% gratuity will be automatically added to all pre-cruise and onboard spa and salon purchases.
A little know feature is that gratuities may be modified in the guest’s sole discretion by visiting the Guest Services desk onboard at any time prior to the morning of disembarkation. The key is to do it when you board the ship (make sure you do it before the ship leaves the port).
Once you do this then, you can choose to tip as you deem fit. I would typically leave money for the housekeeping, waitstaff and bartenders like I do in other hospitality situations. From what people have told me, when you leave cash tips, the personnel are extremely thankful.
I love this Cruise Hack. But just remember that these tips need to be in cash!!